Get Business Out of Health Care

Even before the passage of the Affordable Care Act by Congress and signing it into law by President Obama, many Americans fought for a single-payer health care system similar to that available in Canada and several Western European countries. The Affordable Health Care law is seen as a step in the right direction, allowing more people than before to receive health care that insurance companies either charged too much for or did not even make available to them for reasons such as pre-existing conditions. A Supreme Court decision allowing states to opt out from Medicaid expansion and the recent “Hobby Lobby” decision have illustrated some glaring shortcomings in the ability of that law to effectively provide coverage to millions of people who both want and need it.

The fact that many states governed by conservative Republican governors and legislatures have been permitted by the Supreme Court to not participate in…